Jean-Joseph Kapeller

Jean-Joseph Kapeller (24 July 1706 – 29 November 1790) was a French painter, architect and geometer. Born in Marseille he was influenced by Jean-Baptiste de La Rose and Joseph Vernet, mainly producing landscapes and seascapes such as his 1756 masterwork Embarcation of the Expeditionary Corps for Minorca at the Port of Marseille under the command of the Duke of Richelieu. He and his contemporary Charles François Lacroix de Marseille produced seascapes which marked a step-change in the appreciation of seascapes in Provence in the second half of the 18th century. Kapeller and Michel-François Dandré-Bardon co-founded Marseille's Académie de peinture et de sculpture, with Kapeller becoming its director-rector in 1771 and giving classes in drawing and gemotery there which were attended by his main pupil Henry d'Arles. Kapeller was also a major figure in freemasonry in the city, becoming grand master of the Chevaliers de l'Orient lodge. He also became rector of the third order Franciscans at the Récollets in 1745 and a member of a chapel of penitents. Famous in Marseille in his own time, he seems to have never become much known outside Provence and most of his works are now lost, though some now hang in public collections in Toulon and Marseille.